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Monthly Archives: May 2008

I amazingly had never watched Sex and the City until last year. Thanks to my DVR, I have now seen every single episode. Imagine how excited I was when Ashley (my daughter) and I each won 2 tickets for the early screening of Sex and the City last night! Personally, I was excited just to have a girls night out. She on the other hand was excited about that too, but was equally as excited about the mandatory, ‘I have nothing to wear’. pre-screening shopping marathon that was necessary in order to attend the event.

As luck would have it, she found the perfect pair of hot pink 5″ pink stillettos with a fab flower atop each toe that perfectly matched her pink chiffon knee length new dress. I admit that for a very brief moment I had a flashback to my twenties and slipped a pink stilletto onto my freshly manicured toes. WARNING: If you haven’t worn stillettos in twenty years – you probably shouldn’t wear them in this century – trust me they are dangerous. Did I really once dance in these till the wee hours at Studio 54? That’s another story, but, I do think believe that Ashley and I have gone full circle. I pulled out my pink vintage purse that I bought in the NYC village flea market before she was born and instead of rolling her eyes, she actually carried it to the preview. For those of you with teenage daughters – there is hope for you yet!

So, back to the movie… Did I say it was Fabulous? Here’s my review: I LOVED IT! My plan was to keep an eye on the amazing interiors I would surely see and then report back to you. I don’t think I saw any. I was so wrapped up in the girlfriends, steamy scenes, stylish clothes and of course the amazing shoes, that I swear they didn’t show any interiors. you’ll have to tell me if I missed something 🙂

Since I sadly have nothing to report regarding the inside of their homes, the philosopher in me feels compelled to encourage you to find inspiration for yourself and your home through Carrie and the girls. Note: Some of what I write below will make more sense after you have watched the Movie. Here are my thoughts…

Rekindle a Friendship. When I won the tickets to Sex and the City, something propelled me to call a friend that I dearly love, but whom I hadn’t called in a shamefully long time. She asked me as we were driving to the theatre, why I asked her when she had never seen a Sex and the City episode. I answered simply and honestly – “because I missed you”. It was like we had never missed a beat. It’s those kinds of friends; the one’s who love you inspite of yourself, that you should call.

Learn from Carrie: Style is not determined by Budget. It’s true. You’ve seen Decorate on a Dime and Shabby Chic. Find an inspiration picture. Study the lines (curvy, ornamental, sleek, etc.), note the patterns, explore the use of texture and use that as a guideline for shopping. Style is about knowing the attributes that make a room beautiful. It’s NOT about the label.

Honor the Samantha in You. Most of us are so busy working, nurturing others, and taking care of our homes that we forget out ourselves. You may even say that we ‘lose’ ourselves. I ask you this – if we don’t honor who we are, who will? Make YOU a priority in your life!

Forgive like Miranda. Forgiveness can be hard. Let’s face it, it’s easier to stay mad than to forgive. But life is too short to carry the weight of anger and hate. Try to forgive someone who has hurt you. It doesn’t mean you have to like them or even have a relationship with them, but yours will be a much lighter load and you may even find that forgiveness can change your life for the good.

Be a Charlotte. Do you ever look at someone who is ‘always’ happy and want to slap them? Is anyone ever really that happy? The truth is no. But the other truth is that happiness is a choice. You can choose to see the glass half empty or half full. You can be a pessimist or an optimist. You can CHOOSE to be happy or choose to be sad. Sad has it moments, and sometimes we need to be sad – but if you remember to choose happy most of the time – it’s a much better life!

If you are looking for an inexpensive gift that truly will make your mother happy – I have it…a picture of her children. I did the 3 month, 6 month, 9 month and 12 month pictures and it went downhill from there. My kids are 23, 22 and 20 and I think the last family picture was about 10 years ago.

My daughter tried to get her brothers in for a professional sitting before Christmas, but with the youngest away at college, it just didn’t work out. Two days before Christmas she took her digital camera and had my mother take about 10 shots outdoors of the three of them. She picked her favorite shot, took it to walgreens (you can do all of this online and pick up the finished product which is even easier!), had them put the pictures on a CD, instantly printed an 8×10 on their machine, bought a thick frame at TJ Maxx and gave me my absolute favorite Christmas present. I’m hoping it will a ritual.

Another thought is to print a picture in black and white and add a black or glass frame.

If you have a mom who appreciates a great bag for travel, the office or shopping, loves to decorate and enjoys being organized (or like me – needs to get organized!), this might just be the perfect mothers day gift. It’s the Decorating Assistant which includes a black mesh designer tote, desk top file holder and 3 organizational files. It’s great for the office and travelling. When you’re ready to decorate, the 3 organizational planning files will help organize everything you accumulate.

Check it out at www.assistantproductgroup.com. If you place an order from our website for Mother’s Day, I’ll personally make sure that if we get the order by Wednesday at 5:00 eastern time, It’ll be delivered (US & Canada only) by Saturday, May 11, 2008 at no additional charge.

Everytime I walked upstairs, I had to pass my daughters bathroom with light pink 80’s tile and teal accents around the tub. It slowly was driving me nuts. Last weekend, I jumped in and did some quick and inexpensive updates. In the perfect world, I would rip out the tile, buy new cabinets, etc., but the reality is… a few inexpensive updates – haha! It’s decorating on a budget for this room.

I decided to go with a color pallete of light pink (imagine that!), cream and black with chrome accents. Notice I left the teal out. The teal tile was around the tub/shower area which already had glass doors and I decided to find a way to hide the teal tiles. There are some great products on the market to paint tile, but I wanted to keep this project to a miminum and opted not to do that. The cabinets were older, brown and scratched; since she wanted a more modern feel, I did decide to paint them black.

When choosing paint for a room that has a existing color that you don’t like, sometimes you want to go in a different direction. In this case, I embraced the pink and matched the wall color to it. It’s a light enough color that it really becomes a neurtal back drop for everything else.

I decided that the room had a lot of hard items and wanted to add some warmth and softness, so even though I have glass shower doors, I added draperies to either side with a chrome rod and clip rings and very inexpensive walmart linen drapery panels. Not only did it hide the teal down the side of the shower, but the added height had a modern touch and really added some character.

I had chrome faucets, but awful gold hardware everywhere else, so I picked up some chrome door handles and brushed aluminum switch plates – both are inexpensive items that can make a huge difference. I also added a couple of towel rings and wall hooks in chrome with plastic glass ball accents which added some nice detail and sparkle.

Next I went to my daughters room and borrowed three black decorative boxes to set at the foot of the tub, a black candle base with creme candle, and a black picture frame. I had a silver tray that I grouped all of her perfume and set it along with the candle on the back of the toilet. Grouping are always a great way to organize similar items and to avoid the look of clutter. I had a long creme bath rug, and for now that will work – although I do prefer a nice area rug.

My final touch the addition of two fashion drawings that I found at hobby lobby. They had an abstract background with mixed shades of pink and bold black drawings of a gloves on one and a hat on the other. They pulled everything together perfectly. The whole project was less than $150.00, which isn’t bad for a fresh new look and a happy daughter. They do say you are only as happy as your unhappiest child. Think about that one. That’s a blog in itself!